The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently issued an order requiring telephone companies to take additional steps to protect the privacy of their customers' account information. The FCC's order is in response to the increased use of "pretexting," which is the act of posing as a customer or other authorized person to obtain telephone records or other sensitive account information.
Cox is committed to protecting your information and, beginning in November 2007, began generating random PINs for all customers who did not already have one or who had PINs that did not meet standards set by the FCC. You must use your Cox PIN to conduct any of the following activities:
- Access telephone calling records
- Make changes to the billing address
- Make changes to authorized account users
If you are not asking about the information listed above, you can still use the last four digits of your Social Security Number (SSN4) or your driver's license.
The Cox PIN is printed every month on page 1 of your Cox bill. View example.
Although the new Cox PIN prints on the bills beginning in November 2007, the new policies requiring customers to use the Cox PIN do not become effective until December 8, 2007.
Cox PIN Security Standards
The following information explains the requirements for the Cox PIN:
- Must consist of four numbers
- Cannot use repeating numbers, such as 3333 or 8888
- Cannot use 1234
Note:A Cox PIN should not use the SSN4 or other numbers that could identify you, such as your birthday or number from your street address.
Exception: If you are a video or data customer and use SSN4 as your Cox PIN, your PIN does not change, unless it uses repeating numbers or is the number sequence 1234.
Anytime your PIN or other customer sensitive information is changed, Cox will notify you.
Note: Other PINs, such as the Parental Control, Purchase, and Voice Mail PINs are not affected.